Introduction
From addressing pain points like workforce scalability and employee retention to leveraging innovative technologies that improve ROI and efficiency, CHROs are redefining their roles as strategic partners.
This report examines the insights and priorities of 500 Chief Human Resources Officers (CHROs) across multiple industries, uncovering their top challenges, sought-after solutions, and strategies for enhancing organizational impact.
Dive in for a comprehensive look at how executive HR leaders are navigating today’s complexities—and how people operations managers at any level can position their organizations for long-term success.
Four insights on talent acquisition & the future of HR
Insight 1
Selecting and successfully implementing new technologies
AI-powered solutions and evolving HR technology are transforming hiring processes and workforce management, but adoption challenges like budget constraints, resistance to change, and scalability issues highlight the need for targeted solutions to maximize their impact.
AI’s role in solving hiring challenges
Artificial intelligence is emerging as a key enabler in addressing hiring bottlenecks. CHROs report the highest interest in using AI-powered solutions for resume screening, background checks, and reducing communication delays. Focusing on these types of applications reflects an emphasis on selecting the highest quality candidates, fast.
Which AI hiring solutions do CHROs most recommend to HR team hiring at scale?
Barriers to technology adoption
Despite its potential, HR leaders still report roadblocks to new technology adoption in their organizations. Budget limitations (18%), internal resistance (17%), and challenges in customizing solutions (16%) are the most significant barriers reported by CHROs. These obstacles highlight the need for targeted investments, programs focused on obtaining organizational buy-in, and tailored solutions to maximize the impact of HR technology.
Current HR tech performance and integration
CHROs overwhelmingly agree (89%) that their existing HR tech tools align with business goals. Many rate these tools as “meeting expectations” (46%), and only 25% find them exceptional, exceeding expectations in delivering results.
However, 30% of respondents remain dissatisfied or report marginal performance, indicating room for improvement in technology scalability and flexibility. Integration is critical for managing new working environments, with 35% of leaders prioritizing technology integration to support remote, hybrid, and in-office arrangements.
In light of this, when reviewing tech stack proposals for 2025, HR leaders may want to prioritize solutions that easily (and effectively) integrate with the rest of their technology suite.
How do CHROs rate their current tech stack’s performance?
What this means for employers
- Leverage AI for efficiency: Resume screening and background checks are key areas where AI can streamline processes and reduce manual workload.
- Address adoption barriers: To address adoption barriers and gain organizational buy-in, HR leaders can start by building a clear ROI case that demonstrates the cost and time savings of new technology, tying these benefits directly to business goals. Engage key stakeholders early by involving leadership and team leads in the selection process to ensure alignment and support.
- Prioritize integration: Build a tech stack that comes as close to the “one workflow” approach as possible. Flexible, frequently updated integrations are key to reaching this north star, as they reduce manual work and eliminate duplicative tasks.
Insight 2
CHRO priorities: AI, the employee experience, and digital transformation
To remain competitive in a rapidly evolving workforce landscape, HR leaders are embracing future-focused strategies that prioritize employee experience, leverage AI, and drive measurable results through data-driven decision-making and agile tools.
Guiding principles for HR teams
In our survey, CHROs emphasized how organizations should prioritize strategies that directly address talent attraction and retention challenges to remain competitive. Respondents value enhancing the employee experience the most, reflecting its role in fostering engagement and satisfaction in a competitive job market.
Talent acquisition powered by AI came in at a close second. Across industries, CHROs are asking their teams to explore, test, and implement AI-powered tools as a standard—not an exception.
Data-driven decision-making and digital transformation rounded out the list. These two often go hand in hand, with the best technology offering clear, actionable insights across the hiring funnel.
Which HR strategies do CHROs think will help their organization stay competitive?
How senior leaders are measuring impact in 2025
CHROs identify quality of hire, employee turnover rate, and time to fill open positions as the top HR metrics for tracking performance in 2025. These KPIs align closely with organizational goals to improve workforce quality, reduce attrition, and enhance operational efficiency.
For evaluating background check processes specifically, HR leaders prioritize accuracy of results, turnaround time, and compliance rate, highlighting the importance of reliability and efficiency in pre-employment screenings.
What do CHROs see as the most important KPIs for measuring 2025 HR performance?
The importance of adaptability for HR teams
Encouragingly, a majority of CHROs (70%) agree that their HR function is agile and that they are prepared to adapt quickly to dynamic business needs. As many HR teams may be familiar with the feeling of shifting economic sands beneath their feet, adaptability is increasingly seen as a critical skill for building a future-ready hiring program.
According to our survey, almost one-third of HR teams are not seen as adaptable and flexible by their top leaders. HR managers at every level might ask: What’s stopping my team from adapting efficiently to new business objectives, and what do we need to level up our performance?
As reflected by related data in this survey, the answer may lie in enhanced tech stacks, better data tracking and analysis, and AI-powered workflows that free teams up to focus on strategic work.
What this means for employers
- Prioritize employee experience: Focus on initiatives that enhance engagement and retention to build a competitive advantage in talent acquisition.
- Embrace AI and data-driven strategies: Leverage AI-powered tools to optimize hiring processes and use data insights to refine decision-making.
- Track impactful KPIs: Monitor key performance metrics like quality of hire, turnover rates, and time-to-fill to ensure HR initiatives align with organizational goals and deliver measurable results.
- Build flexibility into HR practices: Invest in tools, training programs, and technology that enhances the agility of HR functions to adapt to evolving workplace dynamics and support long-term success.
Insight 3
How leaders are building an engaged, generationally diverse workforce
Improving candidate and employee experiences has emerged as a central tenet of HR leaders’ 2025 strategic plan, with a focus on enhancing retention, leveraging technology, and crafting compelling employee value propositions (EVPs) that address evolving workforce expectations.
What makes a powerful employee value proposition (EVP)?
Competitive compensation is, perhaps unsurprisingly, seen as the most significant driver of employee satisfaction and retention by HR leaders, with 33% of CHROs citing it as the top value when crafting a compelling EVP.
Career development opportunities follow closely (28%), reflecting an acknowledgment from top levels of management that today’s employees desire clear growth pathways and skill-building opportunities. Work-life balance (23%) rounds out the top three, underscoring its importance in fostering engagement and addressing burnout concerns in the modern workplace.
Which employee values do CHROs say have the highest impact on attracting and retaining top talent?
How to drive engagement across generations
HR leaders rank flexible working options, including hybrid and remote arrangements, as the most impactful practice for engaging employees across generations. Inclusive training programs that address the unique needs and communication styles of different generational groups also make CHROs’ top lists, signaling work can be done during and after onboarding—not just recruitment—to prevent turnover.
Tailored recruitment and marketing, like targeted messaging for different generations in talent acquisition materials, closely follows inclusive training. Instead of a one-size-fits-all approach, talent acquisition leaders may look to sales and marketing teams to help guide targeted recruiting efforts that intentionally address different generational personas.
What do CHROs believe are the most effective strategies for hiring multi-generational talent?
What this means for employers
- Craft a competitive EVP: Develop strong value positioning centered on compensation, career development, and work-life balance to appeal to top talent in your industry.
- Align workplace policies with candidate expectations: Implement flexible working options and inclusive training and onboarding programs that attract and retain qualified employees, especially from younger generations.
- Widen your talent pool: Leverage differentiated recruitment messaging and targeting for diverse generations to widen your candidate pool.
Insight 4
CHROs’ advice for advancing HR leadership skills at every level
The success of a strategic HR program relies on the performance of managers and independent contributors at every level. Executive HR leaders cite communication skills, adaptability, and data and analytics proficiency as top skills for developing leaders to focus on—for career progression and to support overall organizational success.
Skills critical for increasing impact
CHROs emphasize effective team management as the most valued skill for developing HR leaders, reflecting the importance of guiding teams effectively toward achieving organizational goals.
Emerging HR professionals looking to increase their strategic impact may also focus on improving communication and interpersonal skills, a skill underscored by top leaders and essential for building strong relationships across all levels of an organization.
CHROs also, of course, want to see HR managers paying close attention to evolving and innovative talent acquisition and retention strategies combined with strategic planning capability. Also high on top leaders’ list? Proficiency in data-driven decision-making and a strong understanding of HR metrics.
Top skills CHROs are looking for in developing HR leaders
How to become a key problem-solver
Key problem-solvers are team members that leaders at the highest level look to when inevitable roadblocks to strategic success arise. These pros tend to stand out in HR teams, and may be more likely to take on higher leadership roles and progress in their careers.
CHROs believe that the most important action HR leaders can take to become a key problem-solver is to demonstrate excellent decision-making based on data. Here, we once again see data and metrics taking center stage. For many people operations leaders, data can feel like both a blessing and curse. Sometimes, the most valuable data—or even accurate data—is elusive. This is where building the right tech stack often comes into play, stocking your team’s toolbox with reliable, streamlined HR solutions that let you identify workforce trends and measure the success of key initiatives.
CHROs also highlighted enhanced communication with senior leaders as critical for developing HR leaders across industries, demonstrating an interest in and ability to align strategic solutions to roadblocks with broader business objectives and gain executive buy-in. Staying updated with HR trends and innovations ranks equally as a priority, closely followed by building strong cross-functional relationships.
What do CHROs believe is the most important action developing HR leaders can take to become key problem-solvers?
What this means for employers
- Develop leadership and communication skills: Strong leadership and the ability to communicate effectively across teams and senior leadership are essential for HR leaders at all levels to increase their impact.
- Focus on data-driven strategies: HR professionals may work to demonstrate proficiency at leveraging analytics to solve complex challenges in talent acquisition and workforce management.
- Embrace continuous learning: Staying updated on HR trends and innovations ensures developing HR leaders are equipped to adapt to changing business landscapes and drive impactful strategies.
The takeaway
As executive HR leaders steer their teams toward strategic success in 2025, better technology, data-driven decision-making, and quality of hire are all top of mind. These priorities may prove essential for measuring workforce trends, predicting hiring needs, and addressing challenges like employee retention and scalability.
By fostering adaptability through flexible policies, mentorship programs, and competitive employee value propositions, HR leaders at every level may enhance engagement, satisfaction, and efficiency—positioning themselves as key contributors to crucial organizational wins.
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Ready to unlock HR’s strategic potential with better background checks? Access more insights in this 2025 report, or get in touch with the Checkr team today.
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Survey methodology
All data found within this report is derived from a survey by Checkr conducted online via survey platform Pollfish. In total, 500 Chief Human Resources Officers (CHROs) were surveyed. This survey was conducted over a three-week span in November 2024, and all respondents were asked to answer all questions as truthfully as possible and to the best of their knowledge and abilities.
Disclaimer
The resources and information provided here are for educational and informational purposes only and do not constitute legal advice. Always consult your own counsel for up-to-date legal advice and guidance related to your practices, needs, and compliance with applicable laws.
